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‘Why I quit my internship’

August 23, 2013 //
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'Why I quit my internship'

It’s with a heavy heart that I announce that I’ll be leaving PBS MediaShift (and it’s podcast, Mediatwits) on Sept. 4.

Long story short, I realized I needed to spend more time on my academic pursuits (especially when all of my homework is in Spanish) and exploring Costa Rica to its fullest extent.

Read this post on IFSA-Butler’s Study Abroad blog on my reasoning to give up the best internship I’ve ever had.

Thanks to Steff Dazio, Paige Jones, Rachel Karas and probably other people who told me to do this a long time ago and waited for me to make my own decision. I appreciate your patience and your concern for my well-being.

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Categories Clips, Costa Rica, IFSA-Butler, Journalism, PBS, School

‘When family visits its abroad student’

August 22, 2013 //
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IFSA blog 8.22.13 2

My head started to spin. I lost my appetite. I was confused.

I was going through reverse culture shock, three months early.

It’s an odd reaction to have when parents come to visit, but in this case, it makes perfect sense.

Read the rest of the posts and check out some awesome pictures of hanging bridges, jungle vines, and, of course, Volcàn Arenal.

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Categories Clips, Costa Rica, IFSA-Butler

‘I learned how to fly’

August 22, 2013 //
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IFSA blog 8.22.13

So not a particularly Costa Rican activity, but when I visited Playa Herradura, I got a chance to try out FlyBoarding.

The method of FlyBoarding is pretty simple. A large hose simply funnels exhaust water into a board. The water then pushes the rider above the water as much as 20 feet, and the rider has to balance, like on a snowboard on a spinning top.

Check out the photos here.

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Categories Clips, Costa Rica, IFSA-Butler

’10 survival strategies for the first week of classes abroad’

August 6, 2013 //
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IFSA blog 8.5.13 2

New campus. New students. New professors. New subjects. New regulations. New languages.

All of the change associated with studying at a new school is enough to drive even the most competent student mad.

Here are a couple of tips I picked up from my experience of “syllabus week” at a foreign university.

Read the tips here, and add your own!

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Categories Clips, Costa Rica, IFSA-Butler

‘Why IFSA-Butler’s orientation process works’

August 6, 2013 //
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IFSA blog 8.5.13 1

It seems completely counter-intuitive to send study abroad students to a completely different place for their first week of orientation, only to shuttle them off to a completely new town with completely new family.

It’s paramount to doubling the culture shock, antithetical to IFSA’s promise of “More culture. Less shock.”

But, by George, it works. Transition to university has been easier than I could have imagined, no small thanks to my time in Liberia.

Read the rest of my explanation here. 

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Categories Clips, Costa Rica, IFSA-Butler

PHOTOS: San José and la Rincón de la Vieja

July 26, 2013 //
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If you’re not a friend of mine on Facebook (sorry), you probably haven’t seen many pictures yet of my tour through the beautiful country of Costa Rica.

Check out the pictures on my ongoing blog at IFSA-Butler, my study abroad program. This time, I feature San José, the capital of Costa Rica, and la Rincón de la Vieja, an active volano.

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Categories Clips, Costa Rica, IFSA-Butler

‘It takes a village’

July 24, 2013 //
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'It takes a village'

I told my host mom the day I moved in that my Internet didn’t work.

15 minutes later, four different ticos, from at least three generations of the same family, were in my room (pictured here) trying to get my computer to work.

Read the rest of the post here.

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Categories Clips, Costa Rica, IFSA-Butler, School

‘Learning Spanish, poco a poco’

July 17, 2013 //
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IFSA blog 7.22.13

Today was my last full day in Liberia, one of the bigger cities in Guanacaste, the northwest region of Costa Rica.

I had a great time climbing volcanoes, touring the clubs and dancing/singing with ticos.

But one the best, worst parts of my first week here: Spanish.

Read the rest of the post here. 

UPDATE: July 22

I misspoke in the original headline, “Learning Spanish, poco por poco.” The saying is, “poco a poco.” Clearly I’m not learning Spanish as quickly as I thought. h/t to Paige Jones for pointing out the error.

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Categories American University, Clips, Costa Rica, IFSA-Butler

‘First experience with culture shock highlighted the little things’

July 9, 2013 //
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"First experience with culture shock highlighted the little things" on IFSA-Butler's blog

I’m here in Liberia’s Hotel Boyeros in Guanacaste, the northwestern region of Costa Rica. Guanacaste, in itself, has a fascinating story, as it voted to leave Nicaragua in 1824 and to annex itself to Costa Rica. But I’ll try to talk more about that later this month when the Ticos celebrate that decision in their annual festival.

Now, all of my reading up on Costa Rica’s culture and nature did help (I’ve been voraciously reading Lonely Planet‘s guide to the country), but I was still pleasantly surprised by what I found.

Read the rest of the story here.

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Categories Clips, Costa Rica, IFSA-Butler, School

‘Preparation, flexibility keys to beginning journey’

July 9, 2013 //
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This is a first of a series of blog posts I’ll create about my travels throughout Costa Rica for the next four months.

Check out the rest here.

"Preparation, flexibility keys to beginning journey" on IFSA-Butler's blog

Studying abroad was always something I knew I needed to do, but I never thought it would be this hard.

Take packing, by far the hardest part of predeparture shenanigans. It’s not just the logistics of fitting everything needed (and nothing more) for five months in two suitcases and a backpack.

But there’s also emotional baggage to unpack.

Read the full story here.

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Categories Clips, Costa Rica, IFSA-Butler, School
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